New Series Kicks Off With Enemies-to-Lovers Between a Vicar’s Daughter and a Fallen Duke
ARC provided for free by the publisher via NetGalley
Sophie Jordan’s The Duke Goes Down is a perfect popcorn read. (A what? You know, the book equivalent of a popcorn movie).
In it, Jordan delivers the petty, the punny and the Penning (Duke of, that is). It’s a fast, entertaining read, though there’s not a lot about it that’s memorable. Does that make it bad? Not at all.
As teens, Imogen overhears Perry, the future duke, talking to his mates at a lawn party about he’ll have his pick of women when it comes to wife. When Imogen’s name comes up, while he agrees she’s not ugly, he calls her sanctimonious with the disposition of a rotten lemon (LOL). Ten years later, that slight is still sticking in her craw. Enemies-to-lovers with some wicked payback, here we come.
I laughed out loud at the rumors that are planted about the Duke of Penning, I bought the enemies-to-lovers trope between the vicar’s daughter and a fallen duke (even if wow, Imogen has been holding onto things for a looooong time).
I always enjoy the modern sensibility in Sophie Jordan’s historicals, so consent is woven in, and as usual Jordan delivers the steam. Imogen also addresses the inequity between men and women in British society, though just as we know he and Imogen will end up together, I also never doubted that Perry would land on his feet.
Overall, a good start to a new series. I’ll be back for more.
3.5 stars
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